A Broken Heart
by Shadouge4Ever
Summary: Dedicated to Chip903. Rouge is happy with Knuckles, until she realizes that he can't be trusted in the relationship. She meets someone new, and her best friend gets sent to jail. Shadouge
1. Betrayal

Long ago, a white fruit bat named Rouge met a handsome, young echidna by the name of Knuckles. Rouge was radiant; she had teal eyes, luscious lips, a gorgeous body, and a determined—yet graceful—personality that would turn any man's head. She loved flirting and having fun with her best friends, Amy Rose, Blaze the Cat, and Cream the Rabbit. She always had a boyfriend, and was the life of the party wherever she went. She had the quality of a princess.

Knuckles, on the other hand, was a bad boy/gangsta; he had purple eyes, red dreads, a smile that would attract any adventurous girl, and a fierce personality. He also loved flirting and hanging out with his best buds, Sonic the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog, and Scourge the Hedgehog. He always had a girl hanging on him, and was extremely popular. He usually went out with a girl without having actual feelings for her, but then, the lovely bat caught his eye.

He was hanging out with his friends at a club, when he spotted a lonely lady bat sitting at the other end of the bar. He wanted to go and talk to her, but his friends distracted him and when he looked back, she was gone. But he had captured her image in his mind. Later, he went to an ice cream parlor to get the taste of settled booze out of his mouth, and he saw her with her friends. He started to walk to her, but stopped and realized that he couldn't. She wasn't like any other girl he'd ever met. She had the body and face of a goddess, and although she would seem like just another sex symbol to any ordinary man, Knuckles saw something in her that he didn't see in the other girls he'd met. He was in love with her.

One day, he went to the store, and somehow ended up in the same aisle as Rouge. He watched her search for the right brand of band-aids, then summed up the courage to talk to her. He greeted her and told her that he'd seen her alone at the bar and that he thought she was beautiful. He asked her out on a date, and then swelled up with joy when she said yes. Later that night, they went to a fancy Italian restaurant and had the most wonderful evening. Knuckles felt so in love that he asked her to marry him. Rouge, blinded by excitement, said yes, and they planned to get married on the 26th of May.

They were a happy couple for many months. Knuckles had a job in business, and had his own apartment because his workplace was so far away. He spent most of his time with his fiancé in her house, and enjoyed every second of being with her. Rouge was a painter, and she made thousands of dollars off of her fabulous paintings. She painted any random thing, then handed the picture off to her bodyguard/agent/client to be sold. They were very happy, until one day—February 2nd—their relationship fell apart...

Rouge was working on a picture of purple tulips when Knuckles came down the stairs, tying his tie. He kissed Rouge on her cheek and said, "Bye, babe. I'm going to a meeting at my apartment."

Rouge stopped painting and looked at him, confused. "Your apartment? What's that all about?"

"Well, uh, you see, by boss said he was tired of having meetings at the office, so, um, I volunteered to have the meeting at, um, my apartment," Knuckles replied unsteadily.

"Oh, well I guess there's nothing wrong with a little change," Rouge said, and went back to painting, oblivious to the shakiness in Knuckles' voice.

"Well, uh, love ya," Knuckles said and went out the door.

Rouge put the last few strokes on her tulips, then went to the kitchen to free her hands of paint. She was drying her hands, when she noticed a paper sitting on the table. She looked at it and thought that it might be something Knuckles would need for his meeting. She went over to the window and looked out; Knuckles' car was gone. She went outside to her white Cadillac, predicting that Knuckles was probably close to halfway there by now. She pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street, increasing her speed a little every minute or so. She wasn't that worried about interrupting the meeting; Knuckles' boss was pretty nice. He had his bad days, but 90% of the time, he was pleasant. So she cheerfully drove down the street, thinking to find Knuckles at the meeting.

She parked her car in front of Knuckles' apartment and got out. She looked around and saw that there were no business-like cars parked anywhere; she also saw Julie-Su's car parked near Knuckles'.

'What's Julie-Su doing here?' she wondered. 'Hmm, she probably just lives nearby.'

Rouge walked up the stairs of the building and stopped at the door that read '107' at the top, and a 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging on the doorknob. She opened the door, paper in her hand, and said, "Knuckles, I found a paper that looked impor—" she stopped.

There, on the couch, was Knuckles, kissing none other than Julie-Su. Rouge froze with shock.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Julie-Su said, looking at Rouge like she was garbage.

"Uh…Rouge…It's not how it looks…" Knuckles stammered.

"Knuckles…We're engaged!" Rouge shouted. "And you're having sex with Julie-Su?"

"Hold up," Julie-Su said, stood up, and put her hands on her hips. "Knuckles, you're _engaged_? You said you weren't with anybody, you liar!"

Julie-Su grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She stopped, turned to Knuckles, said, "I never want to see you again!" and left.

"Wait, Julie-Su!"

"Shut up, Knuckles!" Rouge said loudly, her hands on her hips. "I can't believe you'd do that to your fiancé! You're a terribly person!"

"Babe, I can explain!" Knuckles said pleadingly.

"No, I've had it with you!" Rouge took off her engagement ring and threw it on the floor. "We're through!"

She turned to leave, then stopped, and said over her shoulder, "You need to grow up."

She left the room, slamming the door behind her.

'That bastard! I can't believe he'd do that to me!' Rouge thought angrily. Her nails dug into her palms and her eyes watered. 'I was his fiancé! He can't just go around cheating on his fiancé! That's just down right arrogant!'

She stomped down the stairs, got into her car, and drove to a coffee shop. She bought a cup of herbal tea and drank; she was shaking.

"I need a smoke," she said to herself, the took out a cigarette.

She went to put it in her mouth, then said, "No, I won't do it. I may be a wreck right now, but I won't go back to being a smoker. Not after what happened to my mother."

She threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it with her heels. A black hedgehog with red highlights noticed how upset she was, and walked over to her.

"Hi," he said in a deep, shadowy voice.

Rouge looked up and saw him, then straightened herself out and said, "Oh, hi."

She had never seen someone so handsome; that is, not since she met Knuckles. He had silky black hair with almost dark red highlights, crimson eyes, a mesmerizing smile, and fluffy white chest hair. He also had red striped coming up the sides of his arms and legs.

"Are you enjoying your tea?" he asked, pointing to the half empty cup.

'Oh, yes, I am," Rouge answered, and noticed his nametag. "Do you work here?"

"Yes, I got this job not long ago," he replied. "But I only took it so I could get free coffee. It calms me."

"Yeah, I understand," Rouge said, not knowing what else to say.

"It was nice to meet you," he said, and held out his hand.

"You too," she said back, then shook it.

He had a firm grip, and his hand was warm.

"Well, I have to get back to work," he told her. "But maybe you could come by tomorrow."

"I just might do that," Rouge replied, and the hedgehog walked away.

Rouge smiled. Things were getting better already.


	2. A Turn of Events

As Rouge was driving home, her cell phone began to ring in the right pocket of her jeans. She reached in and grabbed it, trying not to take her eyes off the road.

"Hello?" she said when she got a hold of the phone.

"_Hey, Rouge! It's Amy!"_

"Oh, hey, Amy. What's up?"

"_I was just calling to check up on ya. You gotta keep me up to date about Knuckles!"_

She giggled and Rouge became breathless. 'Knuckles…'

"_Rouge? Are you there?"_

"Uh…Yeah, I'm here."

"_Great! So how are things going with our fiancé?"_

"Well…He's not my fiancé anymore."

Amy gasped. _"Oh, my god…You must've gotten married! That's why he's not your fiancé anymore! Oh, I'm so happy!"_

Same old naïve Amy. "Um…No, that's not it…" Rouge was starting to feel sad.

"_It's not? Then what?"_

"I left him." The words came out painfully, as if Rouge gargled nails as she said it. Amy was silent.

"Amy?"

"_Why did you leave him?" _she asked calmly.

'Geez, Amy must really be upset,' Rouge thought. 'She's never been this quiet before.'

"Well, Amy," she started. "I caught him making out with Julie-Su."

"_WHAT?"_ Amy sounded furious. _"HOW COULD HE DO THAT TO YOU? YOU WERE HIS FIANCE!"_

Rouge was getting kind of scared now.

"_I'M GOING OVER TO HIS APARTMENT RIGHT NOW TO STRAIGHTEN HIM OUT!"_

"Amy, wait…" Rouge tried to stop her, but Amy hung up before she could say anything else.

Rouge looked at the phone, sighed, and put it back in her pocket. 'Man, Amy really flipped out that time.'

She stopped at a red light. 'It was never like this when we were just dating. We broke up all the time and she was always cool about it. But this…This is much more serious…'

She turned on the radio and listened to her favorite station until she got on her street. She pulled up into her driveway and stepped out of her car. She went inside her house and turned on the TV. The news was on, and there was a really good story. Rouge loved to watch all the juicy stories that came on from time to time. It was another story about someone getting arrested. She watched with interest, until she saw the criminal's face.

"Amy?" she said out loud, shocked to the fullest extent.

"A young girl by the name of Amy Rose was caught in an attempted murder. Police have no idea what would make this seemingly sweet girl attempt murder, but she will be punished nonetheless. The murder weapon has been taken into custody and will be used against the girl in court when debating about whether or not she deserves to sit in Old Sparky," the female cat reporter announced. "This is Crystal reporting live for SS News."

Rouge turned the TV off. She sat there for a while, wondering what could've gone wrong with Amy's visit. Then, she stood up and grabbed her keys. She headed for the door and almost forgot to lock it behind her. She hopped in the car and pulled out of the driveway, then drove down the street to the town prison.

She parked her car in front of Station Square Prison. She got out and studied the building. 'To think Amy's in there,' she thought.

She went inside, looked around, and saw a police officer. "Excuse me," she called to him.

He was a fat white rabbit with a bushy gray mustache. He had gray eyes and his long ears were thrown behind his head.

"I'm here to visit Amy Rose."

"The new one, huh? Well, I usually don't let people visit at this hour, but I'm on break in ten minutes, so go ahead," he said in a gruff voice.

Rouge followed him to Amy's cell, then he left them and said, "You got five minutes."

Rouge looked at Amy. She was wearing a neon orange suit and had a number—2346—above the right pocket on the shirt. Her hair was messy, and she had fear in her eyes.

"Amy, why are you here? What happened at Knux's house?" Rouge asked her, still not believing that Amy was really here in jail.

"Well, I went over to lecture him about cheating on you, and one argument led to another. Before I knew it, we were insulting each other; I got so mad, I grabbed my hammer out and started beating him. The police showed up out of nowhere and caught me. Amy purpose of going over there wasn't to kill him; I didn't even think I wanted to! But, deep in my heart, I did. I wanted him to die, and I wanted to be the one to take his life. I'm so sorry, Rouge. I shouldn't have let my temper get so out of control. I never should've done such a horrible thing. I was just so furious that he cheated on you. I'm sorry. I've disappointed you…"

"You didn't disappoint me, Amy," Rouge said, and put her hand on Amy's shoulder. "I'm glad that you cared so much about my feelings. Things just didn't go right. It's not all your fault."

She smiled, then Amy smiled back.

"You'll get out of this," Rouge told her, and thought for a moment. "better yet, I'll get you out of this. I'll come up with the bail money to get you out of this horrible place!"

"But how are you going to get $25,000?" Amy asked.

"I'm a painter, remember? And the rich people I know will pay anything for a good painting," Rouge said, and a grin appeared on her face.

"Thanks, Rouge. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you," Amy said.

"Time's up!" the officer said across the room.

"I'll get the money, I promise!" Rouge called to Amy, and ran out the door.

"She's such an angel," A male pastel pink fox said to Amy. "I'd give anything to have a friend like her."

"What are you in here for anyway?" Amy asked.

"Honey, you don't wanna know," he answered in his gay accent.

Amy made a face.

Rouge went home and unlocked the door. She walked inside and headed to her easel. She placed her tulip painting aside and started coming up with ideas for new paintings. When she had a list of perfect subjects, she started painting them.

Fours hours later, she had painted five things. She had painted a vase, a kitten, a Chinese woman, a sunflower, and a bouquet of roses. She wiped her forehead, washed her hands, reached for the phone—but stopped. Her wrists and feet were killing her. She figured she might as well rest before she used them again, so she sat down on the couch and rested for about 15 minutes. After that, she figured the paintings were dry, so she picked up phone and dialed. It rang a couple times, then someone answered.

"Hello, Hans? Come over. I've got paintings to sell," she said, then hung up.

She wrote prices on blank nametags and stuck them on the paintings: the vase for $2,500; the kitten for $3,000; the Chinese woman for $5,000; the sunflower for $1,500; the bouquet of roses for $2,000; and the tulips for $2,000. That was $16,000 worth of paintings! She would work on getting the other $9,000 the next day.

Hans showed up and Rouge handed him the paintings, which he stacked and brought to his car. Rouge knew a lot of the rich people that went to the museum and she knew just what they liked. These painting would sold in no time. She watched Hans drive away, the paintings safely strapped into his car, and noticed that it was dark. She glanced at the clock; it was 10:00 already. She yawned. "Well, I guess I'd better be heading to bed."

She locked the door, changed into a light blue nightgown, brushed her teeth, turned off all the lights, and went to sleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she felt hungover, even though she didn't drink last night. She had never felt so horrible in her life. She dragged herself out of bed and dressed in a blue spaghetti-strap shirt, black shorts, and white hand gloves. She went downstairs and started thinking about ideas for more good paintings. She was going to get that $9,000. She took out a notepad and started jotting down ideas. Later, she looked at the words and crossed out all the ones that wouldn't sell. Then, she had an idea. "I'll paint a picture of the museum!"

She started immediately, and knew that this one would sell right away because Mrs. Croll—Lover of buildings—really liked how the museum looked. She even said that she wouldn't have it looking any other way. She had also been such a good buyer when it came to Rouge's paintings, and Rouge thought she would do something special for her. So this was her best customer's reward.

In two hours, she stood back and admired her work. It looked just like the museum! She rested, then called Hans. He arrived in five minutes and Rouge handed him the painting. He gave her the money from the paintings sold and she counted it.

"Only $13,500?" Rouge exclaimed. "But the paintings were worth $16,000 all together."

Hans left with the painting, leaving Rouge to think. "Hm, the vase probably didn't sell."

Then she remembered that she didn't put a price on the painting. She hurried to the window, but Hans was already pulling out. She watched him drive away, then shrugged. "No big deal, I guess. I'm sure Mrs. Croll will buy it for the right price."

She decided to go and visit Amy, so she went outside, got into her car, and drove to the prison.

She parked and got out of the car. She still couldn't believe that Amy was in there. She walked in and went to Amy's cell. Surprisingly, there was no policeman around.

"Hey, Amy," she greeted, and Amy's face lit up.

"Hey, Rouge! Did you get the money?"

"Well, I have $13,500, but I painted something really good, and I'm sure I'll be able to bail you out tomorrow."

"Ok, and make sure you have it tomorrow because the dimwit guard Melvin is on duty, and he'll let the visitors do _anything_," Amy told her.

"All right," Rouge said. "So, how was your day?"

"Well, I kinda just woke up, but yesterday was pretty cool."

"Tell me," Rouge coaxed.

"Well, you see that fox, right?" Amy turned and pointed to the fox sleeping on the bottom bunks of the bed. "Well, he's gay, and we got into talking about you yesterday; about how your such a good friend. Then, I remembered that I had snuck in some pink nail polish, and we painted each other's toes while we talked."

"Damn, that's a lot better than the day I had," Rouge commented. "I also woke up hungover today, but I didn't drink anything last night."

"That's weird," Amy said, and looked at her watch. "Uh oh, you better get outta here. Officer Derek is almost done in the bathroom."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Amy," Rouge said, and left.

She was driving home when she remembered her conversation with the hedgehog from the coffee shop. She turned left at the next intersection and headed for the coffee shop. 'I hope he doesn't think I skipped out on him,' she thought. 'I mean, he's really cute, so I can't blow it.'

The hedgehog sighed. "I guess she's not coming," he said, stirring a cup of coffee.

Just then, he saw a white Cadillac pull into a parking space and Rouge stepped out. The wind blew her hair gracefully and the light captured the gleam in her skin. She was stunning. She walked toward him and smiled. He smiled back as she sat down next to him.

"I thought you weren't coming," he told her.

"Sorry, I almost forgot," Rouge said, embarrassed.

"So, what's new?" he asked.

"Well, for one, my best friend is in jail," Rouge replied, her head down.

"What happened?"

Rouge told the story about how Knuckles cheated on her and how Amy got caught by the police. She even told him about trying to get the bail money.

"Wow…That's pretty harsh," he commented.

"Yeah…" Rouge said, then frowned.

The hedgehog placed his hand on Rouge's. "I'm sure everything will get better."

Rouge smiled and he took a paper out of the pocket of his apron. He dropped it on the table in front of Rouge. "I came up with this last night. It's a questionnaire; so I can get to know you better."

Rouge unfolded it and skimmed over the questions. She laughed. "I feel like I'm back in highschool."

The hedgehog looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was in highschool, my teacher would give us a questionnaire every other month—you know, 'cause things change about people—and she always wanted to know everything about us," Rouge explained. "A lot of people thought that they were pesky, but I always liked them."

"Well, I hope mine is as good as hers was," he said, then chuckled.

Rouge liked the way he laughed. It was relaxing. But she couldn't stay any longer because she had to go home and see if someone had bought her painting.

"Well, I'd better get going," she said. "I'll fill in the questionnaire later."

"Yeah, I was supposed to go back to work three minutes ago," he said, and chuckled again.

Rouge started to walk away, then the hedgehog turned to her and said, "By the way, my name is Shadow."

Rouge smiled. 'Shadow…'

She looked at him a bit longer, then got into her car and drove home.


	3. Something Shocking

She went inside her house and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. It was hot outside! She turned the air conditioner up, then called Hans. He came in with a huge wad of cash in his hand. He handed it to Rouge and she counted the money.

"$10,000?" she exclaimed. "But the painting was only $9,000."

"There was no price on it, so Mrs. Croll just paid me $10,000 to be safe," he said.

That was only the second time Rouge had ever heard Hans talk. The first time was when she first met him. He had a deep, deep voice; she had never heard a voice to deep in her life. He was also big; he towered over Rouge, and had dark sunglasses on all the time, so she never knew what his eyes looked like—not even the color! He had black hair and wore a black suit; the collar stretched due to his broad shoulders.

"Well, that's really wonderful, Hans," Rouge told him.

He nodded and left.

Rouge went to her bedroom and locked the money in a secret vault with the other $16,000. Then she heard the downstairs phone ringing. She hurried down the stairs and picked it up, holding it to her ear. "Hello?"

"I'm coming, Rouge…" a dark voice said.

"Who is this?"

"You ruined my relationship with Julie."

"Knuckles! We were engaged, you bastard!" Rouge couldn't control her anger. "You were cheating on me! And I'm glad Julie left you! I found someone else and I'm not scared of you! Now stay out of my life!"

She slammed the phone on the receiver and locked all her doors so that he couldn't get in. She suddenly felt tired, and even though it was only 6:00, she decided to go to sleep for the day.

She woke up and looked at the clock. It was 12:00 am. It was pitch black outside, and Rouge wanted to go back to sleep, but a noise kept her up. She got out of bed and put on a robe, then went downstairs to check out the noise. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she flipped the switch and the light came on. She rubbed her eyes to unblur her vision, then gasped when she saw her living room. It was a mess! The priceless vase had fallen onto the floor and broke—which was what Rouge had heard earlier—the curtains were pulled down, her large mirror on the bookshelf was broken, the couch was dirty and turned over, the picture of Rouge and her chao Princess was cracked, there was glass on the floor, and her window…her window!

"Knuckles must have broken in while I was sleeping!" Rouge said out loud. 'I must have been sleeping pretty hard…'

She cleaned up and fixed everything that she could. She picked up the pieces of the broken vase and threw then away, she swept up the window glass, turned the couch upright and scrubbed it, and cleaned of the broken glass of the picture. When she was done cleaning, she got on the computer—thank God that wasn't broken—and told everyone about what happened. Someone commented immediately.

Sally: _That's terrible!_

Sonic: _I'll never let Knux near my house again!_

Cream: _How awful!_

Blaze: _I would teach him a lesson if it wouldn't get me thrown in jail._

Silver: _To think he'd have the nerve to do something like that._

Cosmo: _He should be ashamed of himself._

Julie-Su: _That bastard._

Then, some people she knew from highschool joined in.

Linda: _That pervert better watch his back!_

Chip: _I can't believe he would do that. He was always so cool in highschool._

Leo: _Well, I guess things change._

Jim: _Damn right, things change! That dude better straighten himself out!_

Rouge told them that she had to finish cleaning up, then logged off and looked around the living room. She approached the window and thought about what she could do to fix it. Then, she had an idea. She went into the basement and grabbed a bunch of wood. She came back up and barred the wood over the broken window. She felt safer with the window barred, so she went back to sleep.

The next morning, she sprung out of bed. She was so excited! Amy was going to be bailed out, her window was going to be fixed, and she was meeting Shadow again today. She quickly got dressed in a white tank top, black jeans, and blue flip flops, then ran downstairs, the $25,000 in her pocket. She got into her car and drove as fast as she could to the prison.

When she got there, she ran inside the building and took the money out of her pockets. There was a yellow rabbit sitting in chair playing with a pen. Rouge approached him. "Um, are Officer Melvin?"

"Yeeeees?"

"I'm here to bail out my friend," Rouge told him.

He held out his hand and she gave him the $25,000. Then she went to Amy's cell with the key, unlocked it, and let her out. Amy waved good-bye to the fox and they left after Rouge gave back the cell key.

They were car, jamming to their favorite station.

"So what's up? Anything new ever since I got arrested?" Amy asked cheerfully.

"Well, I met someone," Rouge said, and couldn't help but smile.

"Ooooooo! Tell me!"

"Well, after I left Knux, I went to the coffee shop to calm down, and this black hedgehog with red highlights came up to me and we started talking," Rouge explained.

"Could I meet him?" Amy asked, almost begging.

"Well, I am meeting him today…Sure, why not?" Rouge said.

"Yay!"

Rouge laughed and they went back to Rouge's house. They pulled into the driveway just as a big gray van parked in front of the house. A brown jackrabbit stepped out of the van; he wore blue overalls and a tan cowboy hat.

"Hey, Max," Rouge greeted. "Here to fix the window?"

"Yup," he answered Texan-like.

They went inside the house and he took out the old window and started fitting the new one in. It slipped right into place, with no trouble at all.

"Well, I'll be," he commented. "She just slipped right on in there."

He turned to Rouge. "That'll be $200 please."

Rouge handed him some of the extra $1,000 she had, then he left. She put the rest of the $1,000 in her purse, then turned to Amy. "Ready to go to the coffee shop?"

"Yes!"

Amy quickly changed and she got into the car with Rouge, then they drove to the coffee shop.

Rouge and Amy arrived there moments later. They got out of the car and Rouge picked a table while Amy ordered coffee. Rouge stayed on the lookout for Shadow, and soon saw him waiting a table. He saw her and asked his boss for his break. He walked over to the table where Rouge and Amy sipped their coffee.

"Hey, Rouge," he said, and looked at Amy. "Hello, miss."

Amy blushed and said, "Hi. I'm Amy, Rouge's best friend."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Shadow."

He sat down next to Rouge. "So, Rouge, I've been preparing this question all day…Do you want to go out sometime…Maybe for dinner…Maybe tonight?"

"Well…Sure…Why not?" Rouge replied.

Shadow smiled big.

The three of them talked for a while, then Shadow went back to work. Rouge quickly filled in the questionnaire she had almost forgot about and wrote "To: Shadow" on it. She left it on the table, then her and Amy left.

They arrived back at Rouge's house and went inside. Amy quickly got out her cell phone and called everyone she knew, telling them about Rouge's date with Shadow. Rouge tidied up a bit while she did that.

She thought to herself, 'I hope Shadow doesn't stand me up. Or that he breaks up with me after we start dating. If that ever happened, I'd be completely heart broken.'

Amy finished up on the phone, then asked Rouge, "Can I sleep over tonight?"

"Absolutely," Rouge answered. "After all, this is your first day out of prison."

They shared a laugh, then played some games on the computer. Later, they had pizza for dinner and then watched TV. There was nothing on, so they flipped through the channels and stopped on the news. As usual, there was a story on. They watched a policeman walking, holding on to someone's arm. They couldn't see who the person was because the policeman was in the way; but then the camera turned slightly and they saw the criminal's face. They gasped when they saw who it was.

"Knuckles?" Rouge cried.

"This young man by the name of Knuckles Echidna has been accused of rape and possible murder. The whereabouts of the two girls have not yet been found. Once again, I'm Crystal reporting live for SS News."

The screen turned back to the policeman holding on to Knuckles. They got a close up of his face; his pupils were dilated—of course he must have been high—his teeth were showing, his hair was a mess, and he was shaking. He looked around for a second, then put on some black sunglasses to hide his eyes. He didn't even try to escape the police officer, who was holding only one of his arms—that's how high he was.

"He knows I'm watching this," Rouge said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"What?" Amy was surprised at what Rouge had just said.

"He _knows_ I'm watching this," she repeated, this time looking at Amy. "That's why he did that; so he could show me what he could have done to me that night."

"'That night?' What night?" Amy was confused.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't here," Rouge said. "Well, you see, after you got thrown in jail, I got a phone call from Knux. I told him to stay out of my life and then I went to bed, which was probably stupid for me to do in that situation, but I did anyway. I woke up in the middle of the night, and when I came down, my living room was trashed. Knuckles could've murdered me that night, but he didn't. I don't know why he didn't, but he's sending me a message through this report."

"That's terrible," Amy said. "And I was in jail the whole time…"

"Amy, don't beat yourself up," Rouge told her.

Amy smiled and seemed to be back to her normal self.

"You're right," she said. "After all, I don't want to let my emotions get the best of me and end up in jail again."

Rouge chuckled. "Now how about we get some shut eye?"

Amy nodded and they headed upstairs. Rouge went into her room and Amy entered the guest room.


	4. The Date

When Rouge awoke, she looked at the clock. 7:43 am. She got out of bed and went to Amy's room. She opened the door and looked inside; Amy wasn't there. She checked the bathroom, the kitchen, and even outside. Amy was nowhere to be seen. Rouge rushed to the phone and dialed 911.

"Hello? I'd like to report a—" Rouge stopped.

She heard a car park outside. She looked out the window and saw Amy stepping out of her white Cadillac, holding two bags.

"_Miss? Miss?"_

"Never mind, it's all right now," Rouge said to the officer and hung up.

She opened the door for Amy and she walked in. Rouge grabbed the drinks for her and they set the food on the table.

"Where were you, Amy? I was worried sick."

"Relax. I just went to McDonalds," Amy replied, and grabbed two burgers out of the bag.

She handed one to Rouge. "Here. And don't worry, there's like, five more burgers in there."

Rouge took the burger. It was very warm; it reminded her about Shadow's hand when she shook it. They ate their breakfast at the kitchen table, talked, and made jokes from time to time. When they were finished eating, they decided to watch a movie.

"Why can't we just watch TV?" Amy asked.

"I can't watch another report," Rouge answered. "It's too painful now."

Rouge shook her head and turned to the DVDs. "So, what do you wanna watch? _The Midnight Sun _or _The Secret_?"

"Um…_The Secret_."

They put in the movie and Rouge made popcorn while they waited for the ads to end. Once the movie started, they sat down to enjoy it.

When the movie was over Rouge could barely move. They were both so stiff from sitting down so long.

"Man, that movie was long," Amy said, stretching.

"Yeah, I know," Rouge replied, and looked at the clock. 10:30. "Oh, man, it was a two hour movie."

"Damn, I'll never watch something that long again."

"Although, it was worth it," Rouge added.

"Yeah, it was a really good movie."

"So what are we gonna do?" Rouge asked.

"Well, we can't go to the movie theater," Amy replied. "The beach isn't open yet."

"And Shadow's not even…Oh no, Shadow!" Rouge cried. "I missed our date last night! I must have been so happy to have you out of jail that I forgot!"

"Hey, calm down, Rouge," Amy said. "Just tell him what happened. I'm sure he'll understand."

"You're right," Rouge said, and smiled.

They talked until 11:00, then the climbed into Rouge's car and drove to the coffee shop.

When they got there, Rouge looked around for Shadow, but didn't see him. She slowly looked over the place, and then saw him making coffee. Her and Amy sat down and talked until he saw them. He slowly walked over to them; his normal calming smile wasn't on his face.

"Oh, crap," Rouge said. "He's pissed that I didn't show up for dinner last night."

He sat down next to Rouge. "Hello, Rouge. You were busy last night, huh?"

"Shadow, you don't understand," Rouge started. "I was just so excited that my best friend was out of jail that I completely forgot about our date. I'm so sorry."

"Well, I guess I can forgive you," he said. "So, you want to try again tonight?"

"Sure," Rouge said. "I won't forget this time."

They smiled at each other and then Rouge and Amy left.

Rouge drove Amy to her house and dropped her off.

"I hope Knuckles didn't decide to trash my place, so it still looks the same inside," she commented.

Rouge said good-bye to Amy and then drove to her own house.

She went inside and turned the light on. It was 11:00, so Rouge decided she was going to take a nap so that she wouldn't be tired for the date. She lied down in the bed, and tried to go to sleep, but she started thinking about Knuckles. About how he cheated on her, about how he broke into her house, about how he got arrested. She couldn't help but think that it was all her fault, even though she couldn't come up with one thing that led to herself causing all of this. She just didn't get it. What did she do wrong? Why did she think all of this was her fault? Why didn't Knuckles kill her that night? It was all so confusing. It turned out that Rouge didn't fall asleep until 12:00. She had dreams about Knuckles; that he didn't cheat on her, that they were still together. Then, she had dreams that Julie-Su hadn't left him, and that he really did kill her that night.

When she woke up, it was 3:00. She went downstairs and made herself a snack. She decided to watch _The Midnight Sun_ until it was time to get ready.

When the movie was over, it was 4:30, so Rouge decided to work on her blog.

At 7:00, she started getting dressed for her date. She figured that Shadow would pick her up at 8:00, since that's the time he wanted when he first asked her. She dressed in a long, strapless, sparkly purple dress, purple sparkly shoes, and purple sparkly elbow-high gloves. She completed it with a black sparkly purse. She curled the bottom of her hair and put on purple eyeshadow. She put in dark purple eyes contacts and colored her lips ruby red. By 8:00, she was ready, and went out to wait for Shadow. She waited and waited, and every time a car drove down the street, she thought it was him, but it always ended up not being him. She was about to give up and go back inside when a black sports car raced down the street and parked in front of her house. The window roled down and their eyes met.

Shadow was wearing a black shirt, a black jacket, black jeans ripped at the knees, black hand gloves, and black boots. He had black sunglasses placed on top of his head; his highlights were shiny. He studied Rouge and smiled. Rouge smiled back at him.

"You look very nice in that dress."

"And you look so handsome in that jacket."

Shadow opened the front passenger door for her and she got in. They smiled at each other before heading off to the restaurant.

They arrived at the restaurant and exited the car. They went inside and approached the usher.

"Table for two," Shadow said.

"Do you have a reservation?" the usher asked. "I cannot let you through if you don't have a reservation."

Shadow lowered his sunglasses slightly off his eyes and peered up at him. "Listen, buddy. I make your coffee in the morning. So if you don't want to come to work all jittery, then I suggest you let us through."

The usher gulped. "Um…Of course. Go right in. A waiter will be with you shortly."

Shadow smiled and led Rouge to a table by a window. He courteously scooted Rouge's chair in for her after she sat, then took his own seat. They picked up their menus and decided want they wanted. A waiter walked up to them moments later with a notepad.

"What will the lady be having with evening?" he asked, his eyes closed.

"I'll have a salad," Rouge answered, and the waiter wrote it down in his notepad.

"And for the gentleman?"

"I'll have the soup," Shadow replied, then the waiter walked off.

"So, how have you been doing since you left my shop earlier?" Shadow asked Rouge.

"Nothing interesting," Rouge told him. "Just the basic stuff that people do before going on a date."

"Yeah, I know," Shadow said. "Naps and stuff."

Rouge smiled. Shadow seemed so relaxed and outgoing, not at all like what he was at the coffee shop. She had never seen someone so satisfied; even Knuckles hadn't had this happy looking before…

'No! I won't think about him at a time like this,' Rouge thought. 'I'm having a good time and I won't let negative thought spoil it.'

"You look beautiful in that dress," Shadow said. "It's so elegant."

"Thanks," Rouge said, twirling her hair with her finger. "You look great, too."

They chatted for a while; a few times they just stared into each other's eyes. Those were truly touching moments. Later, the waiter came with two trays. He placed the salad and soup in front of them. They finished their dinner and ate dessert, talking about their lives before they met each other.

After the date was over, they left and climbed into Shadow's car. He dropped her off at her house and they looked at each other before he left.

"I had a really good time tonight," Rouge said.

"Me too," Shadow replied.

He turned the car to drive off and Rouge blew him a kiss. He waved good-bye to her and drove down the street. Rouge felt so happy and loved.

"He's the man I've been waiting for all my life," she thought. "I thought I was happy with Knuckles, but Shadow… He's perfect!"

She went inside and changed into a T-shirt and shorts, then sat on the couch and relaxed. Later, she got on the computer and told everyone about her date with Shadow. Everyone congratulated her. She felt to happy and in love, and it made her think about how happy she was when Knuckles asked her to marry him. She caught herself and tried not to think about him, but she knew that she would eventually give in. She was the happiest girl in the world when she got engaged.

'And I'll never be able to forget him,' she thought. 'No matter how hard I try…'


	5. Even More Horror

The next day, Rouge woke up on the couch. All she could remember was the last thing she thought before falling asleep: 'I'll never be able to forget him. No matter how hard I try.'

She must have hit her head on something, because it hurt really bad. Her back hurt, too.

"Damn couch," she mumbled as she rubbed her back.

She went to the kitchen and poured herself some coffee. She drank it silently as she leaned against the counter. It was 1:00pm. Shadow was working. She could've gotten coffee there.

"Oh well, this is faster," she said, too tired to think.

She finished her coffee and waited for it to kick in. When it did, she thought about what she was going to do that day. Finally, she decided to visit Amy at her house and see what she was doing. So she got into her car and started driving.

She parked in front of the bright pink house on Apple Avenue and walked up to the door. She looked down at the doormat that said 'Welcome!' before ringing the doorbell. She waited for Amy to open the door and say, "Hey, Rouge! How's it going?" Come in!" in her usual cheerful, bubbly voice. But this time, Amy didn't answer. Rouge rang it many more times—she even tried their secret ring—but Amy never came to the door. Rouge tried the doorknob; it was locked.

"That's odd," Rouge said to herself. "It's not like Amy to lock the door."

She went around the house to the back. She tried opening the back door; it was open! She went inside and was standing in the back hallway. In front of her was a doorway that led into the kitchen. She went into the kitchen. On her left was a doorway that led to another hallway, and to her right, a doorway that led to the living room. She went into the living room and gasped. There was blood everywhere!

She walked around, looking, being careful not to touch anything. She studied the blood-spattered walls and paintings, the couch, the floor. She continued looking. Then, she saw something absolutely horrifying: Amy's body lying behind the couch.

"W-what…" she couldn't finish her sentence.

She was traumatized; paralyzed from the neck down. She had never seen something so unbelievable. Amy was her best friend!

"Who would do this?" Rouge asked herself, still horrified.

She thought for a moment. "Knuckles! He must've escaped!"

She ran to the door, but the front doorknob had blood on it, so she went out through the back. She got into her car and rove down the street, on her way to the prison.

'If he escaped, they'll definitely know,' she thought, a determined look on her face.

She parked and slammed the car door behind her. She stomped all the way into the building, and realized that she was still in her T-shirt.

"Too late to change now," Rouge mumbled. "At least I'm wearing shorts."

She walked up to the police office on duty. It was a woman; an orange cat.

"Is it right that Knuckles Echidna escaped from his cell?" Rouge asked her.

"I don't think so," the officer said. "He's right over there."

She pointed to a cell and Rouge saw Knuckles leaning his head against the bars, his eyes closed; he was asleep.

'So that means he couldn't have killed Amy,' Rouge thought. 'But who else would do such a thing?'

She told the woman officer about Amy and she said she would send some people over to investigate.

Rouge got into her car and decided to visit Shadow and tell him about it.

She decided to sit her car for a while before telling Shadow about the horror of her morning. When she finally did come out of the car, she tripped and fell over everything; her legs felt like Jell-O. She couldn't stand or walk straight. She got to the table and steadied herself, then sat down. Shadow saw her and took her break. He sat down by her.

"What's wrong? You look depressed," he said. "Did a relative die or something?"

"Close to it," Rouge replied.

"What does that mean?"

"I need coffee before I'll be able to tell you," Rouge murmured.

Shadow got her a cup of coffee and she took a sip. She sighed and seemed normal—or close enough.

"So, what's wrong?" Shadow asked again.

"Well, when I woke up this morning, I went to visit Amy," she started. "When I got there, the door was locked, so I went through the back. "I walked into the living room, and—" she couldn't finish again. It was too horrible.

"There, there," Shadow said, patting her on the back. "How about we go to your house? You can tell me there."

Rouge nodded. Tears were now flowing down her cheeks.

When they got to Rouge's house, Shadow helped her inside. He sat her down on the couch.

"Now, what happened?" he asked, holding her hand.

"Well, when I went into the living room…I saw blood—everywhere," she said, and a new set of tears formed in her eyes. "It was on the walls, the floor…The couch…I around more, and found…Amy's body…Behind the couch…"

Shadow didn't know what to say. Nothing could comfort Rouge at this moment. "Rouge…"

Rouge looked at him, waiting to hear his choice of words.

"Everything is going to be ok," he started. "I'll help you find the murderer. We'll get fingerprints, DNA samples, everything. We will find Amy's killer."

Rouge couldn't even nod at this point. She was so scared, angry, depressed; she felt her life should end there. What else was there to go wrong? How could it possible get worse than this?

She couldn't control herself—she plowed herself into Shadow. She burrowed her face into his chest hair, her tears making it wet and gray. Shadow wrapped his arms around her, tears forming in his eyes now. Rouge let him go and looked into his eyes. The tears made his feature blurry, but she could still see the bright red colors of his face.

He looked into her eyes as well; he had managed to make his tears disappear. Her teal eyes were sparkling with fear, and the whites of her eyes were red from crying. At that moment, he knew that he was in love with the bat and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Rouge," Shadow said.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Rouge's eyes changed from fear to happiness, and she smiled open-mouth.

"Yes! Yes, Shadow, yes! Rouge said, and cried some more.

Shadow hugged her tight, and started crying as well. He had never felt so in love before. Rouge's skin was smooth, her hair was soft, her eyes were sparkling, and her lips were shiny. She was absolutely beautiful. If there have been a woman more stunning than Rouge, he hadn't seen her. He kissed her cheek and pulled her away from him. He held her by the shoulders and said, "Now come on; we've got a crime to solve."


	6. Remember

They went to Amy's house—the crime scene—and met up with some police officers. They had been stopped by a couple of security guards, but they convinced them that they were investigators. They approached the group of policemen to check out what they found.

"So, whatcha got?" Rouge asked.

"We think we found something," one of them said.

Another policeman walked up from behind him, holding a bag with a sliver of white-blonde hair.

"Who do we know that has white-blonde hair?" Shadow asked.

"I can't think of anyone," Rouge answered. "I'm the only one with white hair, but I don't have blonde in it."

"Do you have any fingerprints?" Shadow asked the policemen.

"Actually, we do have some fingerprints," another policeman said. "They were found on the victim's wrist."

"Awesome," Shadow said. "We'll stop by later to check 'em out."

"Unfortunately, we don't have anyone who could find the murderer on the computer," the first policeman told them. "Our computer lady is sick."

"I'll do it," Rouge spoke up. "I'm really good with computers."

"Great," the policeman said. "We'll give you a call if you don't drop by later on."

Shadow and Rouge nodded, then turned around and went outside. They sat on the curb.

"Who would do this?" Rouge blurted, suddenly depressed again. "Amy was so cheerful and likeable. Nobody could ever hate her enough to kill her."

"Maybe no one hated her," Shadow suggested. "Maybe someone just dropped by her house and killed her for no reason; a serial killer."

"Maybe…" Rouge half-agreed, and shook her head. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Shadow stared down the street and thought of his life. If he hadn't met Rouge, then he wouldn't be having this adventure. He would be at home, sitting on the couch, watching TV, maybe eating some chips. His life was completely turned around; and it was all thanks to Rouge. His life was boring before, but now it was exciting. He was upset that Rouge's best friend in the world was dead, but he was happy that this was happening because it was fun. He liked finding things and clues and wondering who did it. He always wanted to be an investigator, but he never got the chance to sign up for the job. He didn't go to college, so he had little experience. But all of this still thrilled him, even though it wasn't his life.

'Sometimes I wish it was,' he thought.

Later that day, Shadow and Rouge went to the police department to look for fingerprint matches. They were escorted to the computer room by a guard and met up with the same officers from earlier.

"Now, before we begin," the main officer said, "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Officer Carl."

Rouge chuckled in her mind at the silly-sounding name.

"This is Officer Manson, Officer Terence, and Officer Vennie," he continued.

After they were all introduced, Rouge sat down at the computer and started working. The other officers left, but Officer Carl stayed in the room with Shadow and Rouge.

"I'd like to ask you some questions," he said. "First, what was the victim's name?"

"Amy Rose," Rouge told him, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

"Alright, and what was your relationship with her?"

"She was my best friend," Rouge answered; she was starting to get annoyed. "You know, the kind of friend you can tell a secret to; the kind of friend that'll always be by your side, supporting you."

"Well, I can see by the tone in your voice that you aren't caring for these question," he added. "I'll stop asking them."

"Thank you," Rouge said, not really meaning it.

She worked for a while longer, then found someone.

"His name is Cameron Charles," she said. "It says that he's a 21-year-old bat who likes surfing and picking up girls."

"The kind of people who disgust me the most are the ones who think pimping and prostitution are no big deal," Officer Carl commented.

Shadow nodded his head in agreement.

"It says in his personal info that he lives in Miami, Florida," Rouge, surprised.

"But how could he kill Amy if he lives all the way in Florida?" Shadow asked.

"Wait, I found something else," Rouge continued. "It says 'Currently Living:'. Here he has 275 Bellville Avenue."

"That's only a few blocks away from here," Shadow said. "We can go confront him now."

"Awesome," Rouge said cheerfully. "Let's go!"

They parked in front of an orange brick house with a white wood roof and a brown wood door. They made sure that the number on the house was 275, then they rang the doorbell. A female fox answered the door.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"We're the police," Officer Carl told her. "Cameron Charles is under arrest."

"What? Why are you arresting my husband?" she asked.

"Your husband has been charged with murder," Shadow answered.

"Who did he murder?" she asked them. "Assuming he really _did_ murder someone."

"A 19-year-old girl named Amy Rose," Rouge answered angrily. "My best friend."

"Cameron!" she yelled. "Come here right now, Cameron!"

"What is it, Marta?" he asked tiredly. "Why are you yelling?"

"We're the police," Officer Carl told him, showing his badge.

"Oh, um, can I help you, officers?" Cameron asked unsteadily.

Officer Carl grabbed his hands and shoved them behind his back.

"Cameron Charles, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be used against you in court," he said, handcuffing Cameron.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! Whatchoo doin' man? I ain't killed nobody!" Cameron yelled angrily.

"We didn't tell you anything about a murder," Shadow told him slyly. "Which tells me that you are guilty."

Cameron scowled and Shadow turned to Rouge. "Good job, Rouge."

"Rouge?" Cameron repeated. "Funny, I used to go to school with a girl named Rouge. Now that I get a better look atcha, you look lot like 'er, too."

"I don't remember going to school with anyone named Cameron," Rouge told him.

"Really? You hung out wit Tails, Sonic, Knuckles, Cream, and that dead girl, right?" he asked.

"Well, yes, but I don't remember…"

"I flirted witcha da first week of school, remember?"

"No, I don't remember anything," Rouge replied.

"Whatev. You'll remember later," Cameron said to her, and Officer Carl shoved him into the police car.

"Thanks for all your help," the officer called to them, then drove away with Cameron.

"He's a good cop," Shadow commented.

"Yeah," Rouge agreed, not really listening to what she had agreed with him about. 'Cameron? I don't remember any Cameron. Why should I? I…I don't remember!'


	7. The Breakup

"Shadow, I swear I don't know anything about anyone in high school named Cameron. I swear!" Rouge said loudly as they walked back home.

"I didn't say you did," Shadow told her. "It's ok if you don't remember. It was a long time ago."

"I just don't understand," she said. "Why would he want me to remember him?"

"He obviously wants you to get him out of jail," Shadow said. "Or at least get him out of court."

"I just can't, for the life of me, remember anyone named Cameron that I knew in school," Rouge told him. "Maybe I just have terrible memory."

"Or maybe you just never paid any attention to him, and that's why you don't remember him," Shadow suggested. "He never played a big role in your life; not like Sonic or Cream or…Amy."

"…Or Knuckles…" Rouge reminded herself.

Shadow realized that Rouge was still thinking about that awful echidna. He couldn't believe that the girl he was in love with still had feelings for someone who cheated on her. He was heart broken.

They walked silently all the way back to Rouge's house. Shadow said goodbye, then went back to his own house. He sat on the couch and thought over his relationship with Rouge.

'Maybe I'm just a backup boyfriend,' he thought. 'Rouge obviously still loves him. I'm nothing compared to Knuckles. She started dating me to try and forget about him, not because she loves me. But it's not even working; she still thinks about him. It's no use even trying to make this relationship work. She's just going to keep thinking about him.'

Shadow headed up the stairs and into his room. He fell on the bed and buried his head into the pillow…And cried.

In the morning, Rouge jumped out of bed and tried to remember Cameron from high school.

"Cameron…Cameron…Cameron…Damn it! I can't remember!" she said. "Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough…Cameron…White-blonde hair…Bat…Flirty…Hated Amy…"

Then, the phone rang. She picked it up and answered "Hello?"

"_Rouge."_ It was Shadow.

Rouge's face lit up. "Oh, hey, Shadow. What's up?"

"_Rogue…It's not working out…"_

"What?" Rouge's smile disappeared. "What…What do you mean?"

"_I mean, we can't be together anymore,"_ he said painfully. _"I didn't want to break up with you, but I have to."_

"What? Why?" Rouge asked, upset.

"_Because, you can't stop thinking about _him_."_

"'Him' who? Cameron? Shadow, I'm trying to remember him! What do you expect me to—"

"_Not Cameron!"_ Shadow was scaring her now. She never thought he could be so assertive. _"…Knuckles…"_

Rouge was shocked. How could he be breaking up with her for something like that? She didn't fully understand.

"But…Why? I haven't been…"

"_Yes, you have! I know you have! You tried to cover up your thoughts of him by dating me, but it didn't work! You even said his name yesterday when we were coming back from Cameron's! My point is that you'll never be able to forget him, so we're through!"_

He then hung up, and Rouge was left alone. She put the phone down on the receiver and went into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet and got out a bottle of medicine. She took a pill to help the headache she now had. Shadow was really loud when he was upset, and now Rouge knew it. She was depressed again, so she took a different pill to help her with it. Then she drank some water to help it down her throat.

She then went to the bathroom and splashed her face. So many things started after that phone call. She couldn't believe it. It almost made her think that she was allergic to breakups. She told herself that that was a stupid thought, that it was impossible—but with all of these symptoms, anything felt possible. She actually felt that she could be allergic to it.

She tried convincing herself that it was all in her imagination; that these symptoms were just her mind tricking her because she was so upset. But she couldn't get over it—this was real, she knew it.

She thought of why Shadow broke up with her. It was all because of Knuckles. If she could just forget him, Shadow wouldn't have left her. She also started thinking about him too soon. She had just become Shadow's girlfriend, the greatest honor at that moment. She felt like she was a princess; then they found the stupid idiot that killed Amy, and the thoughts of all the things Knuckles did just clouded her mind and she actually forgot that she was the princess she had been earlier. Why did Cameron have to kill Amy? It didn't make any sense. Amy was so likeable. Everyone loved being around her, especially when she was chasing Sonic—everything she did was so funny and bubbly, and that's what made her Rouge's most special friend. She wasn't like any other friend Rouge had ever had, and there would never be another person that could replace her. Amy was Rouge's best friend in the universe, and it was going to stay that way.

Rewinding back to Knuckles, she thought about all the things he did. He cheated on her, and that was the big climax of her life. If he never would've cheated on her, she would still be happy. They would have two beautiful children, and one on the way—at least, that was always Rouge's fantasy. Now it seemed like they would never start a family. Knuckles was always away on business, and Rouge was left alone at the house, with nothing to do but paint. Then she'd finish making dinner as soon as Knuckles pulled up in the driveway and they'd eat together. But it wasn't a special dinner. It never was. They never talked while they ate, they never laughed or gossiped, and they certainly never told stories or played word games. It was always so boring, their relationship.

Rouge felt trapped, thinking about all of these horrible things. She was exaggerating them, making them seem even more horrible than they really were. It wasn't _always_ boring between her and Knuckles. Sometimes, when Knuckles was off, they'd have a special night where they watched a movie and maybe played a game. But that was before Knuckles got bored with her. He wanted even more excitement; so he started cheating on her. He thought that Rouge would never find out, that she would always be oblivious, and that Julie-Su would never find out that they were together—and even worse, _married._

She again thought about Shadow's choice of words right before he hung up, and tears formed in her eyes, then rolled down her cheeks.

"He's right," she said to herself. "I'll never be able to forget Knuckles; exactly what I told myself some nights ago."

He mind was blank for a moment; she refused to think about Knuckles, Shadow, or Amy again tonight. But she did get a flash of Cameron's face in her mind. Then, memories rushed to her.

"Oh, my god," she whispered, shocked, and wiped away the tears. "I remember!"


	8. Rouge's Thoughts

She grabbed the phone and dialed Shadow's number.

"I can't go through this alone," she said out loud. "I have to call him."

It rang a couple times, then he answered. "Hello?"

"Shadow, it's me," Rouge said frantically. "I remembered! I remembered who Cameron is!"

"You know what, Rouge?" he said angrily. "I don't care anymore; I just don't care. From now on, it's your problem, not mine. You can handle it alone."

He hung up again. Rouge was devastated. "He did exactly what I said I hoped he wouldn't do" break up with me…"

A rush of remembrance came over her as she placed the phone back on the receiver. She then silently cried into her hands. Later, she got a hold of herself and drove down to the prison, where they had Cameron in captivity.

She approached the officer on duty; it was the same female cat from earlier.

"Can I visit Cameron Charles for a moment?" she asked.

"Yeah, whatever," the officer answered. "I don't care what anyone does."

Rouge walked down the hall until she spotted Cameron; he shared a cell with…Knuckles.

She tried not to be seen by Knuckles, but it was too late. He came at her like a wild animal. She jumped back and two large security guards came and forced him into a straight-jacket. Rouge was terrified; he now really wanted to kill her!

She watched them drag him to a room at the end of the hall. She would never forget his face—the way he snarled and growled, his teeth sharp and fierce, his eyes blazing with rage.

She turned back to Cameron, trembling. He gripped the bars and stared at her, as if he was listening to her tell a story.

"So? Did you remember?" she asked.

"Um…Yes, I remembered," Rouge answered.

"So, can you bust me out? They're gonna take me to court tomorrow for trial, and I want you to tell them I'm innocent," he told her.

"Actually, I can't bust you out, Cameron," Rouge said glumly.

"Why not?"

"Well, because I also think you killed my friend," she informed him. "All of the evidence and clues lead to you. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"But, we went to high school together," he said, acting disappointed.

Then, his eyebrows lowered and made his face angry. "Fine, you know what? I _did _kill that girl. It's true. I hated her in high school; you were always hanging out with that pink bitch and I never got a chance to ask you out. She kept you all to herself. You were never alone. And I lost my opportunity to be with you. And now, here I am, about to be hauled to court and found guilty for murdering her."

"You can rot in hell, you bastard," Rouge whispered, and left the prison.

She drove home. Where she buried her face into the pillow lying on the couch and cried. She cried like never before; the tears came rushing out, and every time she thought it was over and done, more tears came bursting out. She cried until there was nothing left; until she could cry no more; until her eyes stung.

When she calmed down, she threw the pillow in the dryer—it was soaking wet—and went to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror; staring back at her was a white fruit bat with tussled hair, running mascara, blood-shot red eyes, smudged lipstick, fear written all over her face. She fought back tears as she started fixing her image—brushing her hair, wiping away the mascara, putting in contacts (which made her cry some more), washing her face, and reapplying her lip gloss.

Afterwards, she ran a hot bath; that would surly calm her. She lit some candles, placed them around the edge of the bathtub, dimmed the light, undressed, and stepped into the warm water. She smiled as the smell of scented candles willed the air and clouded her mind. It was as if she was erasing her memory. She let go of everything that happened today, pretended as if it was just a dream. She even pretended that Knuckles was sitting in the electric chair right now, and that Shadow had been joking about a breakup earlier. She pretended that Amy was still alive and that she was stalking Sonic on the computer right now. Such happy thoughts…And then…She woke up…

She sat up in her bed and looked around her room. It was light outside—morning. She didn't even remember going to sleep last night; but, apparently, she had. She looked at the picture of her and Knuckles on the dresser beside her bed and remembered that all of that stuff really happened.

"Why do I still have that?" she asked herself about the picture. "I really need to get rid of it."

She picked it up and got out of bed—she was wearing a tank top and shorts. Rouge expected to get out of bed naked, seeing as how the last thing she remembered about last night was her in the tub.

"When did I get dressed?" she asked herself.

She shrugged and went downstairs and into the kitchen, where she dropped the picture into the trash can. She swept her hands together.

"There," she muttered. "That's better."

She started walking toward the door, then stopped. "Oh, that's right, Shadow broke up with me," she reminded herself. "I won't be able to get coffee there anymore."

She sadly made her own coffee, but couldn't bare to drink it. She was too sad now. She guessed that it's been a while since she'd worked on her blog, so she did that. She wrote about how Shadow broke up with her, how she remembered Cameron, even about Knuckles trying to kill her at the prison.

Sonic: _Oh, man, Knux is crazy now!_

Sally: _You don't need Shadow. There's better fish in the sea!_

Tails: _Yeah, I remember Cameron._

Cream: _Me too. He always hated Amy. But I can't believe she's gone! _

Rouge: _I can't believe it either, Cream. But, thanks, you guys for trying to make me feel better._

Sonic: _Any time!_

Sally: _Yeah, you're really lucky you have friends like us._

Tails: _Happy to, Rouge!_

Cream: _You're welcome!_

Rouge felt a little better; her friends were on her side. She smiled, then frowned—she was still upset. She ran off all the bad things that have happened so far in her mind: Knuckles cheated on her, Amy went to jail, Amy died two days after she got out, she couldn't forget Knuckles, someone she knew from high school had killed her best friend, Shadow broke up with her, and now she can't forget Shadow.

Then, she ran off all the good things that have happened so far: She sold many wonderful paintings, she was rid of Knuckles the Cheater, Knuckles was in jail, she got Amy out of jail, she met Shadow, she went on a date with Shadow, she wasn't there to see Amy die, they found her murderer, and he was in jail.

After, she added another bad thing: she couldn't talk to or be around Shadow. That was 8 bad things and 9 good things, which also made her feel better. She could smile now. She wished that she could be with Shadow again, but as her friend Blaze says, 'certain things come and go, while others stay forever—like friendship'.

"It's amazing how true that is."


	9. The Beach

She later decided to go to the beach. She packed her things and got into her car. She then drove to the sandy place known as Tallulu Beach.

She unpacked her car and found a spot on the beach to recline. She spread out her towel and set up her umbrella, then sat down and watched the guys surf. She was mesmerized by them, but she couldn't start dating again—not when her heart had been broken twice. She really missed Shadow, and she knew that he must miss her.

'Why do I have to remember Knuckles?' she asked herself in her mind. 'Why can't I forget him? If he hadn't cheated on me, then all of this would've never happened. I mean, maybe Amy would've still been killed, but everything else would be better. He ruined my life!'

"Hey," someone called.

Rouge looked up and saw a female cat holding a volley ball to her hip with her left arm. She had long brown hair, brown fur, blue eyes, long eyelashes, and she was wearing a red, white, and blue striped bikini.

"You look pretty down," she said to Rouge. "Wanna play with us?"

"Oh, um, sure," Rouge replied.

The cat girl walked away and Rouge took off her clothes, revealing her purple bikini with silver gems on the shoulder straps and tie-ribbons on the hips. She walked over to the volleyball court; the ground was covered in sand, which felt good underneath her feet. The air was nice and warm, and the water from the sea sprayed them ever so slightly, keeping them cool.

The other volleyball players greeted her and a blonde fox wearing a light blue one-piece gestured for her to come to their side.

"You can be on my team," she said cheerfully. "But, before we start, let me introduce you to the other teammates."

She approached a black and white male raccoon. "This is Gary. He's the only guy on our team. He's really good at volleyball; we couldn't win one game if he wasn't on our side."

Rouge shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

He nodded at her and they went on to the rest of the members. After Rouge had planted all their names into her head, the fox pointed to herself. "And I'm Synthia; the best on my team."

She decided to tell Rouge a little more while the brunette cat huddled with her team. "That cat girl who invited you to play is Brittany. She is better than anyone who's ever stepped foot on the volleyball court, so watch out. The game gets really hard when she starts getting cocky."

Rouge nodded and Brittany's team broke. Everyone took their places on the court and Brittany served the ball. It headed for Gary and Rouge watched him spike it back to a girl named Mary. Rouge watched the ball go back and forth to each person. Suddenly, a girl called Caitlin hit the ball and it headed straight for Rouge!

Quickly, Rouge put her hands together and locked them. She threw her locked fists at the ball…And hit it! It went to Brittany, but she was too busy joking to Mary about Rouge, that she completely missed Rouge hitting it—and the ball landed right next to her! She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the ball lying there by her feet; the Great Brittany had been defeated by someone who had only played volleyball once in her life!

Synthia's team rejoiced and congratulated Rouge, while Brittany's team moaned and groaned about losing. Brittany was the most upset of all of them. She picked up the volley ball and popped it with one of her sharp claws.

"That was my ball, but, no harm done," Synthia said to Rouge. "I've got a whole closet full of 'em anyway."

Her and Rouge shared a chuckle, then Rouge went back to her towel. She had forgotten to put on sun block.

"Oh well. I'm not sunburned," she said to herself. "Good thing I tan a lot better than I burn."

She had just finished putting on her sun block when three muscular guys walked up to her, surf boards in their hands. One was a hedgehog, one was a rabbit, and the other was a bat. Rouge wondered what they wanted.

"Hey, I'm Rick," the hedgehog said. "And these are my buddies, Tom and Murray."

"We were surfing and we saw you playing volleyball," the rabbit, Murray, said.

"We also saw you beat the Great Brittany," Tom added. "Way to stick it to 'er!"

"That bitch really deserved it," said Murray.

"So, we were wondering," Rick started, "You wanna surf with us?"

"Oh, uh, I've never surfed before," Rouge answered, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"I'll teach you," Rick said, and smiled. 'Come on."

Rouge walked over to the shore with him and he helped her on the board. She lied down on it next to Rick and they paddled out. When they approached a wave, Rick helped Rouge jump up and keep her balance. Rouge held on to his arm as the wave curled over them. After a while, Rouge was able to keep her balance herself. She stood on the surf board with amazement.

'I'm surfing,' she thought. 'I'm actually surfing!'

After the surfing was over, Rouge went back to her towel and started drying herself off. 'That was the most fun I've had in a long time. First I defeat the best volleyball player on the beach, then I learn how to surf. Not to mention the cute boys I met!'

Then, her cell phone rang. She grabbed it out of her purse and answered, "Hello?"

"_Rouge!"_ It was Sonic. _"Hurry, you have to come to my house; Shadow's hurt!"_

"Well, I don't care," Rouge snapped. "He broke up with me. He's not a part of my life anymore. He's gone forever and he'll never ever want to see me again. So I don't care _how _badly he's hurt."

"_No, Rouge, you don't understand—it's not like that! Shadow really needs you right now. I called an ambulance, but they said they would be a while. You have to come over and spend some time with him. What if this is his last moment alive? What if he's broken a bone or something? You went out with him and I thought you loved him with all your heart. If you really loved him, you'd come over right now and make sure that he's ok until the ambulance arrives. Please, Rouge, PLEASE!"_

"I do love Shadow, but it's not going to change anything, Sonic," Rouge replied. "You don't understand what it's like to be hurt the way I was. My life is completely turned around and changed now. Shadow broke up with me because he didn't want to see me anymore, and now I've moved on. Just like how I moved on with Knuckles. And I know I can't _forget_ Knuckles, but I moved on and now I'm living without him. If Shadow dies, I don't want to be there to see it, because I _do _love him."

"_Rouge, if you really loved him like you say you do then you'd come over __right now__. He got hit by a car…" _His voice trailed off. _"Wait…I just checked his pulse…He's dead…"_


	10. Rouge Does Love Shadow

Rouge rushed to Sonic's house. Her car tires screeched as she slammed her foot on the brake. She hurried out of the car and ran over to Sonic. Shadow's body was lying on the grass next to Sonic—thank God Sonic hadn't left him lying in the street. She fell to her knees next to them. Tears rushed to her eyes as she looked over Shadow's limp body. There was blood all over his face and slathered around on his chest hair. He was sprawled out, and Rouge could see parts of his back sticking out—which, of course, could just be his normal spine, but Rouge was doubtful of that. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. His feet were turned out and one of his skates was half off of his foot. His death looked so realistic and Rouge could imagine the whole scene in her mind: Shadow walking innocently down the sidewalk, getting hit by the car, Sonic cheerfully looking out the window and seeing his body there, rushing out and pulling out his cell phone, calling Rouge and telling her that Shadow was hurt…Then checking his pulse and telling her that he was dead.

"My god, he really is _dead_," she whispered. "And I acted so much like a bitch!"

She cried into her hands and mumbled, "Oh, Shadow. I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I know I was mad at you and I wanted you to be out of my life forever, but I didn't mean it like _this_! Oh, God, why did you have to take him? I was in _love_ with that hedgehog! Can't you understand that? I can't believe this. I'll never forget you, Shadow!"

Sonic patted her on the back and said, "It's ok, Rouge. There's nothing to worry about…Because Shad's not really dead!"

Rouge looked up at him, as if to say "Sonic, shut up, you're just making me feel worse."

"No, I'm serious," Sonic said happily, understanding the look on her face. "He's not dead! Shad, sit up."

Shadow sat up and wiped the fake blood off of his face. He smiled at Rouge. "I knew you'd never forget me. All I needed was to hear you say it."

Rouge felt a rush of anger and relief flow over her. She was angry that Shadow and Sonic tricked her—yet she was happy that they lied about it. She fell into him and hugged him tight; he did the same.

"Shadow, I'm sorry I was such a bitch. I'll never do it again; I promise," she said breathlessly. "And I'll forget all about Knuckles. I'll never mention his name ever again. I'll wipe my memory of all Knuckles info. I'll even forget that we were ever engaged. I promise."

"It's ok, Rouge," Shadow told her. "I forgive you. And, I was a fool. I shouldn't have been so jealous. I mean, you were happy with him; so I don't blame you for still remembering him. I should have realized that what I had was special—in fact, the most special thing in the world—a relationship with you. I promise I won't break up with you ever again. You have my word."

They hugged a while longer, then went to a pizza eatery and had a special dinner, just the two of them. After that, they went back to Rouge's house and talked for a while. And then, at 4:00 in the afternoon, Shadow proposed to her.


	11. Epilogue

Now Rouge and Shadow are married. They have two children—a black and red bat daughter and a white hedgehog son—their names being Jewel and Spike. Rouge is still a painter, and even sells some of her children's finger-paint art. Shadow is an agent for the president, and brings souvenirs (like gems and game controllers) home for his kids.

Jewel is 6 years old in kindergarten, and Spike is 8 in second grade. They play well together and are very intelligent. Jewel is very fond of gems and often plays dress-up with her mother's jewels. Spike likes video games, and can even beat his father at Shadow the Hedgehog (game).

Rouge no longer think about Knuckles, and lives happily with her husband in their new home in Los Angeles, California. Cameron Charles is in jail, and will be sent to the electric chair soon. His wife, Marta, has divorced him and lives with her new boyfriend in Maine. Knuckles has been lethally injected and is gone now.

Every weekend Sonic, Cream, and Tails come over to Rouge's house and play games and watch movies. They eat lunch and dinner together while telling stories. Jewel and Spike have been bonded with Rouge's friends and look forward to their visits. They also go on vacations together almost every summer. Washington, Florida, Texas, they've been to them all. This vacation they plan to go to New York and see the Statue of Liberty; although they have to work hard to make the money needed to go on their trips, it is always worth it.

Rouge and Shadow are very happy together and don't ever mention Knuckles or Amy. They do whatever they can to avoid the pain of memories. They've never once mentioned them to their two children, fearing that the stories would lead to more pain.

Amy was cremated; Rouge had the honor of dumping her ashes into the ocean. Rouge vowed to never forget Amy and the times they had together. And to ensure that she never forgot, Rouge made a video slide-show about their friendship using the many pictures that were taken of them. It kept Rouge believing that they would always be the best of friends, even if Amy was gone.

And as time goes by, their children will grow up and move out to fulfill their own dreams. And even when Rouge and Shadow are old, Rouge will never forget the wonderful—and horrible—times that led to all of the good things that ever happened.


End file.
